VOA慢速英语--著名越南籍社会活动家博主被指控

 

A Vietnamese blogger, honored by the United States for her activism, has been officially charged by the government of Vietnam.

Me Nam, or Mother Mushroom, faces three charges related to "conducting propaganda” against the government, VOA Vietnamese reported.

Her given name is Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh. She has been detained since October 2016 and faces up to 12 years in prison if found guilty. The law used against her has drawn¹ international criticism for giving the government power to limit free expression. Several lawyers have offered to represent Quynh in court.

Mother Mushroom was honored with America’s International Women of Courage Award in March. The U.S. State Department award recognizes the “courage and leadership” of women around the world. She was not able to attend an award ceremony in Washington led by first lady Melania Trump².

A State Department spokeswoman praised Quynh for “exposing corruption³, raising awareness⁴ about environmental protection and reporting on human rights violations⁵ in Vietnam.”

Vietnam's foreign ministry⁶ criticized U.S. officials for giving the award to someone being investigated for violating Vietnamese law.

Quynh also received the 2015 Civil Rights Defender⁷ of the Year award for speaking out freely against injustices⁸ and human rights abuses in Vietnam.

Quynh began blogging as Mother Mushroom in 2006. She is also a founding member of the Vietnamese Bloggers Network. It is one of the few independent blogging groups in a nation where the ruling Communist Party tightly controls the media and writers.

Among her recent campaigns, she blogged about the government's handling of a chemical spill at Formosa, a Taiwanese-owned steel plant in central Vietnam. The spill killed 80 tons of fish, embarrassing the Vietnamese government as images of dead fish along beautiful beaches were published worldwide.

Thousands of protesters demonstrated at the plant and in cities throughout Vietnam. The April 2016 incident is widely seen as having raised environmental awareness and activism in Vietnam.

The movement led the steel company to accept full responsibility for the fish kill. It also pledged to pay $500 million in damages for dumping toxic⁹ wastewater into the South China Sea.

Words in This Story

conduct – v. to carry out

courage – n. ability to do something difficult or dangerous

expose – adj. cause to be known, especially something secret or dishonest

awareness – n. the state of knowing about something

embarrassing – adj. make someone look foolish

toxic – adj. containing something poisonous

1 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

2 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

3 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

4 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

5 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

6 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

7 defender   

n.保卫者，拥护者，辩护人

参考例句：

• He shouldered off a defender and shot at goal.他用肩膀挡开防守队员，然后射门。
• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。

8 injustices   

不公平( injustice的名词复数 )； 非正义； 待…不公正； 冤枉

参考例句：

• One who committed many injustices is doomed to failure. 多行不义必自毙。
• He felt confident that his injustices would be righted. 他相信他的冤屈会受到昭雪的。

9 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。